Fading Springs (Video Game)
Fading Springs, also known as Fading Springs 1, is the first installment in the Fading Springs series of psychological survival horror video games. Fading Springs will be developed and published by Toshiko Games. It will be released on the PC. Storyline Jay Donovan's wife Sandra is leaving to Fading Springs, Oregon for a business trip, for which she will be gone for a week. However, she is gone much longer than anticipated, so Jay drives to the old 1930's town to find her, passing a large overturned semi on the way. He arrives to find the town covered by a White Mist and completely devoid of people. Jay finds a large building, which turns out to be the storage facility for the town. He enters through the back entrance and meets a man named Garrett Thompson who seems to be pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself. Jay asks if he can help, and Garrett asks to be left alone, as he wants to "think things over and over by himself". Jay soon encounters his first monster: a Chrisom. After finding a crowbar and killing the creature, he makes his way to the St. Abraham Mental Hospital to find help. Upon entering the building, he becomes locked in by a mysterious force. He explores the hospital and finds that it is deserted, aside from the Chrisoms and SmileBeasts. Jay acquires a handgun. While walking down one hallway on the second floor, he hears a scream coming from a hospital room. The door is locked. By completing a puzzle involving the lyrics of a song playing on the radio, Jay finds a key in one of the other rooms. He uses this key to open the locked door, rescuing a woman named Angelica Dowley. Angelica claims to have been chased into the hospital room by a "giant smiling beast". She seems to otherwise have no recollection of the events that led her to the hospital. Jay agrees to escort her out of the building. Unfortunately, a strange earthquake suddenly occurs, which destroys the floor leading to the stairs. As Jay and Angelica continue to explore the second story of the hospital, they see a horrific sight in a window separating the hallway from an ER: a tall, butcher-like monster torturing a man who is strapped to an operation table. The creature takes no notice in them. The two eventually find a hole in the floor that they jump through, leading them to the Hospital Boiler Room. Here, they encounter the monsters known as the Shy Daddies, and a spider-like monster called Mommy. After killing the monster, Jay and Angelica escape the hospital and Jay brings Angelica back to her home. At her home, he gets a phone call from a mysterious man who tells him to go to the town theatre. The town appears to have been affected by the earthquake, with several roads being partially destroyed. Jay sets off for the King Theatre, an old closed-down theatre. Jay explores the theatre and sees that the stage is covered with blood. After bringing meat to a creature in the basement and solving a complex puzzle that involves controlling the lights and sets, the corpse of an enormous creature is revealed on the stage. The stage suddenly transforms into the ruins of an old castle. Jay finds a shotgun, only to be attacked by a glowing monster onstage. Upon leaving the theatre, Jay gets another call from the mysterious man, who tells him to go to the George Price High School, as that is where a ritual involving something called the Mandala is taking place. Jay attempts to make his way to the George Price High School through the Chrisom, SmileBeast, and Backover-covered streets, but must take a detour through a dark alleyway. In the alleyway, Jay is attacked by the Slaughterman. Slaughterman engages Jay in a chase sequence through the back alleys of the town. Upon reaching a dead end, Jay uses the crucifix to ward off the Needleman and enters through a nearby door. In this building, Jay finds a ringing phone. Upon answering it, he is greeted by the mumbling, panicked voice of Angelica, which is then interrupted by an elderly man's voice. This voice declares that the age of Brivega is nearing, and will begin when the Mandala is completed. He declares that Brivega will punish the sinners and smite the unworthy. The phone connection is lost and Jay hears a voice. Entering the next room, he encounters Garrett, who seems to be trying to drink his cares away. He tells Jay that he's done some things in his life that he's not proud of. He then goes on about how "her screams pierced the night and he kept driving". Jay tells him he can sympathize, but Garrett has fallen asleep from the alcohol. Jay exits the building and makes his way to the school, avoiding the monsters that roam the streets. Upon entering the school, Jay hears strange chanting behind the door leading to the boiler room. Jay encounters several monsters in the school, including Chrisoms, Crawlers, and leatherbacks. He completes several puzzles to unlock the entrance to the second floor, where he eventually encounters an invisible monster called the Mad Daddy. After defeating it, the floor opens up, revealing Angelica who has been nailed to the floor on the Mandala. Jay and Angelica emerge to find the streets torn up by the second earthquake, completely isolating them on the street they're currently on. Jay asks Angelica what happened. She explains that after Jay left, she was kidnapped a group of people in cloaks and brought to the boiler room of the school. She explains that they seemed to follow some weird religion and how they kept talking about something called "Brivega". They decide that the most likely place to go is the Hausen Nature Park. Jay and Angelica make their way through the destroyed streets to the gates of the park. They find that the park is swarmed with SmileBeasts, Crawlers, and Piercers. Eventually, they come across Garrett, who is standing on a bridge. He claims it isn't worth it to keep going. Jay and Angelica attempt to dissuade him from jumping, but it is no use. However, if Jay completes the Garrett Sidequest, Garrett assumes that Jay is going to turn him in, and attacks Jay. After Garrett's death, they make their way around, solving puzzles, until they eventually unlock the tram that leads down into the Wither Caverns. On the tram, In the cavern, they come across the site of a ritual. There is a giant mandala painted on the cave floor, with a body nailed to the floor on each point, except for two. Jay's wife is one of the victims, and she appears to be dead, causing Jay to break into tears. Suddenly, the Slaughterman appears and attacks. Jay engages in battle with the Slaughterman, defeating it by luring it into destroying the chains surrounding the mandala. Upon its defeat, it kneels down on one knee and dissolves into rust. Jay and Angelica attempt to escape through a rock tunnel, but are eventually stopped by an elderly man named Daniel Saunders. He talks about how Brivega will judge the living and engulf the unjust. He explains that his years of worship would grant him immortality and allow him to live at Brivega's side. Daniel unsheathes a dagger and stabs Angelica in the leg, incapacitating her and gaining some of her blood. Daniel then cuts his own wrist, letting his blood fall into a pit along with the blood of Angelica. After another earthquake, an immense creature (Brivega), bathed in a blinding light, rises from the pit. As Allister prays to the deity, it roars in his face and swallows him whole. It then turns its attention to Jay. Jay, alone in the cavern, faces the creature and ultimately defeats it. Endings *''Fading Springs has multiple endings. The ending the player receives is dependent on various factors, like the number of monsters they kill, the number of health items they use, and if they complete the Garrett Sidequest.'' Ending 1 (Play aggressively, complete Garrett Sidequest) After defeating Brivega, the cavern begins to collapse. Angelica falls into the abyss and Jay leaves her behind in an attempt to escape. However, he is stopped by several other members of the cult, who kill him. Ending 2 (Play passively, complete Garrett Sidequest) After defeating Brivega, the cavern begins to collapse. Angelica falls into the abyss and Jay leaves her behind in an attempt to escape. However, he is trapped in the cavern by a falling boulder that covers the exit, leaving him inside forever. Ending 3 (Play aggressively, don't complete Garret Sidequest) After defeating Brivega, the cavern begins to collapse. Jay and Angelica successfully escape from the caverns, and they wander down the road as hitchhikers. Ending 4 (Play passively, don't complete Garrett Sidequest) After defeating Brivega, the cavern begins to collapse. Angelica collapses due to blood loss, and Jay attempts to drag her out of the cave. Upon escaping, Angelica blacks out due to lack of blood, and Jay calls 9-1-1. Gameplay Fading Springs is a first-person psychological/survival-horror game that includes exploring Fading Springs with flashlight, while defeating monsters and solving puzzles along the way. Jay will find environments are dark, and the flashlight is often the only source of light. Jay finds many helpful items on his journey, and without collecting specific items, the player cannot progress through the game. If Jay takes too much damage from an enemy, he will die, leading to a Game Over screen. When a monster appears, the player will have to make a choice on whether to fight or flee. Both options work well in different scenarios; for example, in a narrow hallway, the better option would be to fight, but in a large open area, the better option would be to run away. Even if Jay flees from an enemy, he is still vulnerable to attacks, however; if Jay turns his flashlight off, this is less likely to happen. Combat is lacking. There are three weapons in the game, and one of them is optional. The handgun and the shotgun have limited ammo; the shotgun is more powerful but it lacks range. The crowbar is the only real reliable weapon in the game. There are three difficulty five difficulty options; three of them affect monster difficulty and the other two affect puzzle difficulty. These options are: Monster Difficulty *Easy Monsters *Medium Monsters *Expert Monsters Puzzle Difficulty *Beginner Puzzles *Expert Puzzles Trivia *Many of the buildings, including the King Theatre and the George Price High School, are named after famous horror writers and icons (the King Theatre for Stephen King and the George Price High School for George Romero and Vincent Price). Gallery Wiki-wordmark.png|First Official Logo Category:Games Category:Fading Springs